


Learning To Parent: The Flawed Way

by AcePersona



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Accidental Baby Yoda Acquisition, Adorable Baby Yoda (The Mandalorian TV), All Baby Yoda Knows So Far Is Buir, Baby Yoda Is Learning Mando'a, Blood Loss, Child Rey, Delusions, Don't Like Don't Read, Don't worry, Gen, Hurt Din Djarin/The Mandalorian, Hurt/Comfort, I Don't Even Know, ManDadlorian, Mandalorian Culture, Mando'a, Original Character is just a bounty, Protective Cara Dune, Rey And The Child Are Sweeties, Rey Needs A Hug, The Razor Crest is Meant To Be Listed as a Character, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Whump, and yes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:41:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26275810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AcePersona/pseuds/AcePersona
Summary: Din always knew there wouldn't be a battle he would win. He just didn't know when. Turns out that battle came much quicker than he would've liked.
Kudos: 51





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yup. I made another WIP. When inspiration strikes, i just write. And that inspiration was for a Mandalorian fanfiction, finally. Yay. School just started back up, so I won't be posting much anymore. Speaking of school, though, this was written mainly at school, and the only other time I wrote it was late at night or early in the morning, unfortunately. I hope you all at least get some enjoyment out of this.
> 
> Quick Note (9/17/20): This note will be deleted at some point once I finally rework this first chapter to mention it. The most bare details: Din is severely sleep deprived during this, which is the main reason he slips up quite a bit during the fight. The sleep deprivation is due to him feeling too busy to sleep. His main thoughts are that he can't sleep if there's work to do, which in this is him tracking a bounty, and if he doesn't find them, he doesn't get the money, which he needs, to provide for him and his Ad'ika. Thought I should give a quick explanation.

Din looked at the sun slowly going down, and he sighed. “I’ve got to find this Desla soon. His bounty will pay for gas and food for the womp rat for a good two weeks,” he muttered, the heat not exactly helping his mood. He’d turned back to bounty hunting, as money for supplies was beginning to run low. “Just for a bit,” he continued to repeat to himself mentally.

At this point, he was just trudging along in the sand, the suns reflecting off the beskar in several different colors. He wasn’t worried about the heat or the cold that would come with night, but it was the matter that Jakku is Scavenger and Thief territory. Sure, Din would take Scavengers any day compared to the Empire, but neither are to be trusted, and neither should their area. And he’s already been here longer than planned. 

“Hope the kid isn’t worried. Maybe I shouldn’t have left him back at the ship… That was a terrible idea.” he sighed yet again. “I can’t spend more time here. Delsa better show their face soon.”

“Oh, well, how could I deny that request?” the Zabrak said with a slight purr as he stepped out from behind a sand dune right behind Din, causing him to twist around to face him, his hand hovering over his blaster.

“Wrel Delsa,” he said, trying to analyze them, needing to know his weaknesses. “I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold.”

“Oh, what a darling little Mandalorian. I don’t want to fight with you.” Delsa purred, walking in slow circles around Din, who was getting tenser and tenser, his hand half reached around his blaster.

Din stayed silent, carefully watching him, wary.

“Oh, no response? That’s a pity. I was really hoping you felt the same way.” He knocked on DIn’s helmet, causing him to jolt and grab his blaster, fluidly pulling it out and aiming right at Delsa’s head.

“You’re jumpy, aren’t you? Tell me, how much do they have on me?” he asked, his voice still humorous.

The Mandalorian, continuing his silence, staring at the Zabrak through his helmet.

“How very, very rude. You don’t even have the decency to respond. I’m sure you’ll respond quickly, though, after this.” Delsa pulled a vibroblade, and ran towards Din, jabbing it through the thick leather covering one of his calves. 

Din winced as the blade dug into his flesh, then ripped out just a quickly. He aimed his blaster towards one of Delsa’s hearts, wobbling slightly from the wound as he shot the blaster, landing right on target. He barely flinched.

“Really, Mando, you go for the heart? You must know we Zabraks,” he said his race with spite in his voice, confusing Din, “have two of them. You should’ve kept it aimed at my head.” He crooned, going back to normal, a small smile on his face.

Wincing as he stood up. “He knows exactly why I couldn’t...” he thought, “He’s just teasing, stop thinking so much, Din…” He realized seconds later that he had said it out loud.

“Oh, that’s right. Hard to get a clean shot with that injured leg, isn’t it, sweetie?” he said with a slight purr in his voice. “And Din? What a beautiful name.”

Din went rigid, eyes burning with annoyance at both himself and Delsa. “Shut it. I’ll happily bring you in cold.”

Delsa smiled, knowing he got under his skin, which was the first step to making someone lose all control. “Oh, Din, Din, Din. I love your name. Why should I ever stop saying it?”

“I said, shut it.” he snapped.

Delsa continued with it, not paying any heed to him.

Pulling out cuffs, he limped closer towards the pale Zabrak, trying to resist the urge to shoot him down right that second, knowing the bounty was higher if he was retrieved alive. Which was an absolute pain for him to deal with, especially with Delsa  **this** annoying.

“Oh, I don’t think I’m done with my fun yet. I want to make you remember me.” Desla crooned.

Din bristled and quickly clicked a series of buttons on his remote for the ship behind his back, which was the combination to send out an alert to people who he registered in the ship. He waited to confirm it, though, hoping he could wrap this up by himself.

He ran at Din with blinding speed again, jabbing at Din, who blocked him, the beskar gaining some scratches, before Delsa finally got a hit, plunging the blade into his side, just between the armor plates, then ripped it out again, just as quickly. A hiss escaped from between the Mandalorian’s teeth, moving a hand to his side. 

Din had to give it to Delsa. He had good eyesight, but not good enough, it would seem. Din swiftly pulled his blade out of his boot with his other hand, stabbing it into where Delsa’s other heart was located, missing it by about an inch, on purpose as to leave him alive, just barely. Only after did he notice he was too slow, Delsa’s second vibroblade jabbed into the area just above his elbow, Din staring at it with hazy disbelief.

The disbelief was promptly interrupted by Delsa letting out a violent cough, blood staining his pale face. “W-wow… You Mandalorians truly heartless, aren’t you?” He asked, falling to the sandy ground beneath them as Din slapped cuffs over his hands.

He sprayed a light layer of bacta on Delsa’s wounds, it being the only bacta he had left. “No. You’re not going to die. But I’ll happily change that if you act out again.” he muttered as the Zabrak fell unconscious. “What sort of idiots want this one alive…?”

  
  


Swiftly taking the Vibroblade of his arm, wincing, he grabbed Delsa by his collar. Stumbling across the sand while dragging the bounty, the wounds in both his leg, side, and now arm starting to hurt, he tried to walk in the Razor’s direction, but he fell to the sand after just a few steps, the suns now projecting an eerie red as they almost sank beneath the horizon.

Din muttered curses in Mando’a while he tried to stand up, feeling woozy. Red was seeping into the sand, and he finally admitted to his stubborn self there was absolutely no way he’d make it back to the Crest. He whispered to nobody, his modulator barely picking it up, “Sorry, little womp rat. I didn’t mean to die out here. ‘Hope whoever finds you takes good care of you. 

A faint thought flicked through his brain, and he clicked the confirmation button on the remote. “At least it’ll be someone I can hopefully trust,” he muttered as he rolled over onto his side, facing the half-dead Zabrak, who was passed out. Din’s eyes were flecked with slight satisfaction, as the black at the edges of his vision finally provided him with relief from the pain.

Unknown to him, a scavenger watched behind a dune, eyes huge and curious, but they ran off quickly.

* * *

The Child tottled around the ship, having woken up from his nap a little over an hour ago, getting antsy. There wasn’t much for him to do, and it was so quiet, so when a loud beep sounded from the cockpit, his curiosity peaked. He struggled up the ladder, finally making it up after ten minutes or so. There was a blinking red light on the dashboard, and of course, the little green creature tried to touch it with a tiny finger. It just kept flashing until after another minute; it just became a red. There was no blinking or flashing, just red.

Losing interest, The Child jumped slightly down into the pilot seat. “B-boo _.  _ Boo. Boor, _ Buir _ ,” he said, it being one of the only words he knew. “ _ Buir, buir, buir _ !” 

He huffed when his buir didn’t respond like he hadn’t in the past hour. Maybe he was playing a game. He should search for his  _ buir _ . But he was tired again, so he just sat in the chair, looking at all the switches and buttons, dozing off.

That was, until he heard the hatch door open, his green ears going upwards slowly. The footsteps that he heard, though, were not those of Din. But they did sound familiar. The Child couldn’t place from where, though. But it wasn’t someone bad, that he was certain of.

The footsteps got closer, and they started to climb the ladder. He slumped in the seat, still cautious. The door behind him opened, and the steps stopped right by the chair. Hopeful, The Child asked, “ _ Buir _ ?”

“Nope. But I’m looking for him.” The footsteps said, and he finally recognized them. 

He looked up and saw none other than Aunt Cara. This caused him to let out a happy babble, and he reached out a hand to her, grasping onto her arm.

“Yeah, hey, kid. Seen your dad anywhere?” She asked, looking around the cockpit.

His ears lowered slightly, and he let out a sad coo.

“I’ll take that as a no. Well, no time to waste time here. I didn’t travel to Jakuu for nothing. I gotta go, kid.” she said, looking down at him. The clawed hand on her arm didn’t loosen its grip.

The Child cooed, looking up to her with expectant eyes. 

“Din will kill me for taking you with me… But you’ll probably do that choking thing if I don’t take you… Fine. I’ll take you with me.” Cara said with a sigh, and she picked him up, holding him with one arm. He babbled happily.

They left the Crest, closing the door and making sure the ship was as secure as it could be on a planet full of scavengers. “Let’s go then.”

* * *

The odd duo, consisting of a human and a weird, small green creature with large eyes and ears, wandered into the deep depths of the desert. They garnered a few odd looks from scavengers around them, but once they saw the… numerous weapons the human was carrying, they quickly looked away. 

Except for that one tiny scavenger, by the name of Rey.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have absolutely no idea what this chapter is, but I hope you all enjoy anyway.

Rey blinked, her wide eyes curious. “I haven’t seen them around. They must be visitors! Why are they here? Does it have anything to do with the shiny person I saw? I hadn’t seen him around either, and they both look kinda weird...” She tilted her head, then nodded, and, of course, ran towards the unusual strangers.

Cara’s eyes widened at the small child running towards her with a walking stick. “Hi there, weird strangers!” The Child babbled back, his ears rising a bit, while Cara looked her over, curious.

“Hello,” Cara said, deciding she wasn’t any threat, “Did you need something?”

“Nuh-uh. I just wanted to talk to the odd outsiders. I’m Rey! It’s been an interesting day, you guys aren’t the only new creatures I saw today. I saw a shiny creature who looked like a droid. They had a LOT of weapons.” she stretched out her arms, trying to show how many weapons he had.

Cara blinked, eyes filling with an odd mixture of interest, worry, and urgency. “You did? Did he have a big round helmet with a cross on it?”

Rey bit her lip, and closed her eyes tightly, thinking hard. “Mmm… Um, yup! He did! I think. He was laying in the sand, and I didn’t want to get close, so I couldn’t see too well. There was this other creature by him. I don’t know what they were called though, I just know they were fighting.”

“That’s right. He started up bounty hunting again. Can’t blame him, he was so used to just providing for himself, and there he goes, becoming the father of a child. His stubborn mind is just full of stupid ideas.” She sighed, and then finally registered the part where Rey mentioned Din was lying in the sand. “Wait, he was lying in the sand?” she said, a hint of worry in her voice, which she would strongly deny was there.

“Mmhm. I think he was injured, cause he was trying to limp away, but he ended up falling to the sand, and he didn’t get back up. I think I saw a bit of red too, but it could just be the setting sun. Speaking of which, it’s gonna get cold soon. The sun’s nearly below the horizon.” Rey said, just staring at Cara and The Child, who she was thinking was the shiny man’s kid. “Is that his child? The shiny man’s child?”

“Mmhm, can you show me where… um, shiny droid man is?” Cara asked, slightly distracted.

Rey looked to the setting sun and then to down at her thin clothes, but shook her head slightly to herself. “Um, sure! Is he your friend?”

“Yeah. I guess you could call us friends. Though we do tend to get into fights. More often than not... Anyway, let’s get going. Quickly.” She said, and Rey nodded, running off into the sand, Cara close behind.

They ran for about 30 minutes, slowing down at times to give Rey’s small legs a break, before starting up again. Cara was getting used to this, but as soon as she did, Rey stopped suddenly, and turned to Cara, running back behind her. “Your droid-man-friend is up there…” she said quietly, and even to Cara, who barely knew her, it seemed incredibly uncharacteristic of her.

Cara bit her lip, steeling herself before walking forward, and peering over the mound of sand. There lied Din in the sand, with a handcuffed Zabrak that Cara could only imagine was the bounty he was tracking. She let out a hiss through her teeth and rushed over when she saw the wounds and scratches on his armor from Delsa’s vibroblades. She checked his pulse, finding it still pulsing faintly after some panic.

“At least he had the common sense to take the blades out. If he left them in, that’d be much more complicated. Not to say it isn’t… Only he would get himself stabbed in not one, but  **two** , major places. Let’s hope they didn’t hit the major arteries.” she muttered, glancing at his arm and leg wounds, which didn’t look like they had hit any. At least that was something good.

She forgot about Rey, who was still behind her until she spoke up. “Will Mr. Shiny Armor be okay? I hope so, cause you seem nice, so he must be nice.”

“Well...” she looked down at Rey with her big, innocent eyes, “Sure. He’s nice. I’m sure he’ll turn out okay. If we hurry.”

Trying to seem calm for Rey, she put on a neutral face and hauled Din onto her back. He didn’t shift, or mumble, or do anything at all, which was hard to pretend was concerning. She glanced at the bounty, and sighed, mentally promising to come back for them later. “They’re cuffed, after all, not much they can do. And Mando got him pretty good.” she thought, trying to be reasonable. Rey began to run ahead, as she was the one who knew the layout of this forsaken planet.

They made it Outpost in less time than on the way to Din, in much more of a rush. Cara sighed and turned to Rey, who was peeking around. “I need to pick up medical supplies here, knowing Mando rarely keeps some around the ship. You’ll probably want to stay here. His ship is an absolute mess, it’s a miracle it still flies, and I don’t want you getting hurt. You probably have a life here anyway…” Just after she said that she remembered most children here are orphans, and Rey looked down. “Oh. Um, sorry. Well. You can come along I guess, but you probably have a lot here already.”

“I don’t really. I wanna come with you and…” she thought. “ You called him Mando right? What does that mean? It sounds like an odd sort of name.”

Cara snorted and continued walking around, looking for bacta spray, patches, and just bandages in general. “You and I are one to talk about odd names. But Mando is his nickname. He’s a Mandalorian.”

“I’ve heard of them! One of the older kids says if I don’t behave they’ll come here and kidnap me. They sound super spooky.”

“Well. How to explain it… There’s not too many of them anymore, but Mando right here is one, as you can see. He used to have…” she gritted her teeth, “Much more loose morals. He’s mostly fine in that category now, thanks to this child.” she pointed her chin to The Child, who Rey was carrying now. “You have no reason to be scared unless you’re the bounty he’s tracking, or you hurt the baby or another Mandalorian. So… just don’t do that.” she finished lamely, giving a half-hearted smile.

“Okay then.” Rey tilted her head at the limp  Mandalorian just as soon as Cara spotted what she needed. 

Putting Din down, Cara looked at Rey with a very serious expression on her face. “Watch Mando carefully. A lot of creatures here would like to just kill him and take his armor. Don’t let them do that.” Rey shuddered and nodded. “Good. Thank you, Rey. Oh, and I should introduce myself finally. I’m Cara Dune. Okay, bye.”

“Oh, okay. Bye-bye Ms. Cara! I’ll watch him very closely.” she stared intently at DIn, who still hadn’t moved at all.

Cara chuckled slightly, glad for Rey trying to make the best out of a bad situation. “I’ll see you soon. Good luck.”

* * *

Rey stood straight up, staring at everyone who walked by. Ms. Cara was nice, and she asked her to do something. So she had to make sure she did it and did it right. It had become night, and as such, much harder to see, but she was doing her best. It helped that the Mandalorian armor, or Mando armor, didn’t shine very much when it was night. “This is an important job. I have to pay attention to everything.”

A rustle sounded behind her, and Rey swiveled her head around, looking around the darkened outpost, not seeing anything, but she was much more alert. Little did she know it was Din, shifting. He was beginning to wake, opening his eyes to a blurry, dark, and shady street. Din suppressed a groan as he sat up, staring at the kid in front of him.

Sitting there in silence, wondering if anything was going to happen, Din became increasingly bored and was still confused about why he was sitting on the sandy street with a kid ‘guarding’ him. “ _ Rangir _ …” he muttered, and he tried to stand. Din used the wall behind him to push himself up, before one of his legs gave out, causing him to fall back down with a hiss. This caused the human child to twist around, staring at him with wide, spooked eyes.

“You’re awake? Um, hi, Mr. Mandalorian. Ms. Cara went away a few minutes ago to buy something. She should be back soon. Oh, and I’m Rey. You were really hurt when we found you, and you probably still are. I don’t know how you would’ve healed so quickly.” she shifted uncomfortably. “I’m gonna stop talking now.”

Din’s head was rushing with jumbled thoughts, and he was trying to sort it out. Ms. Cara must mean Cara, who must have found him. This Rey must have helped her find him, seeing as she looked like she lived here, alone on top of that, which was cruel. Children are the future. He finally nodded in response to Rey, and saw The Child waddling over to him, ears lowered, letting out a small, quiet coo. “Hey…” he let out a slight cough. “I’m here  _ Ad’ika _ ...”

The Child reached a hand out to him and tilted his head, and Din suddenly felt his leg wound tingling. He weakly grabbed the kid’s hand and shook his head. “ _ Nayc _ . No. Remember last time?” Din let go of his wrist.

The kid’s ears lowered even further, and he whimpered, lifting his hand again, only to have it pushed down.

Rey watched this interaction with curious eyes. The Mandalorian didn’t seem to be mean at all. He actually seemed to be nice, at least to the small green creature. But what interested her was the odd language he spoke in. She’d never heard it before, and she'd heard and knew a lot of languages. “Um, sorry, I wasn’t gonna speak again, but I have to ask you something.” Din tilted his head at her, interested. “What’s that language you’re speaking? It’s really interesting, and I’ve never heard it before.”

A small smile came from Din, not that Rey could see it, and he responded with, “I was speaking Mando’a. It’s the language of Mandalore, where Mandalorians originally lived. We don’t live there anymore, but we carry the language on.” As a foundling, he learned of the Siege of Mandalore, as every foundling had. But he didn’t have to go into all of the details, seeing as Rey wasn’t a foundling, and the version he was told isn’t exactly suitable for a child of her age, much less The Child.

“Oh. Well, it’s really cool! What did the words that you said mean?” she asked, her curiosity not yet quenched.

He thought back to what he said, and then at Rey. “Well…” he let out another cough, his throat feeling like he’d swallowed an entire desert. “I said  _ Rangir _ which means…” he thought of a child-appropriate way to explain it, regretting his decision to say it in the first place. “It’s an expression of frustration. And then I said…” he bit his lip and thought, head still feeling jumbled. “ _ Ad’ika  _ is Mando’a for little one, like son or daughter. And then…  _ Nayc _ which is simply no.” he nodded and leaned his head back against the wall. 

“It sounds like a harsh-sounding language, but in the proper words, there’s a softness. I like that.” Rey said, a quiet smile on her face. Din had a smile too, albeit small.

“I guess you’re right. That’s a good way to look at it,” he said, the voice modulator blocking out the undertone of pain in his words, his head throbbing, and his wounds feeling as if they were on fire. 

They sat in silence for a moment, until The Child let out a curious coo, his ears rising slightly. Din looked in the direction the big-eared creature was looking in, moving his body slightly to look in that direction, which sent a surge of pain through his body. He let out a small wince that the modulator just barely picked up. But he finally saw what drew the kid’s interest, which just happened to be Cara rounding the corner, carrying an assortment of medical supplies.

Cara picked up the wince from Din, and her eyes widened the slightest bit, and she rushed over. “Di-” she stopped herself, looking at Rey, “Mando, how are you even conscious? You’ve been stabbed 3 times! Each in a different place! I don’t even know how much blood you’ve lost! You probably should be dead at this point!” she stared at him disbelievingly.

Din groaned, slumping down in the sand, his head rushing even more. “Can’t answer your question. Sorry. If it makes you feel better, I’d rather not be conscious.” he coughed painfully.

“You just don’t know when to stop, do you? You must have known this bounty you were tracking was the most dangerous the Guild had.” she sighed. “And here you are, stabbed multiple times with probably some sort of head injury, and you’re still quick-witted.”

“Well, for one, seeing as Delsa was the most dangerous, you know I’m the only one who could handle it. And for the quick-witted part-” he cut himself off when his head throbbed, tired of all the thinking and talking. With one, he completely blacked out for a few seconds and was greeted with the worried faces of both Cara and Rey. “Y’know… Please don’t let me die, but I’m really tired so…” he let the silence say for itself.

“D- Mando, that doesn’t sound like a good idea. Try to stay awake, okay?” Cara said, looking worriedly at him.

“But 'm tired, an’ everything hurts,” he muttered, the words slurring together, his brain already ready to go unconscious, leading to DIn barely thinking.

“I know. But you need to hang on for a bit, okay?” she crouched down next to him, opening a bacta spray container.

“Okay…” he said, slouching down.

“Good job, Mando. Now try to stay that way,” she said, waiting for a response or even just a movement. But there was nothing. No reaction from him at all. “Mando? Hey, Mando?” she shook Din lightly by his shoulders, but he remained limp. Cara let out a breath through her teeth, panicking.

“C’mon Din…!” she whispered, but there was nothing, just shallow breaths coming from him, the modulator not even picking some of them up. 

Rey stepped up next to Cara, wondering if DIn was his actual name, but she ignored it, more pressing matters on hand. “Will he be okay?”

Cara pinched her nose bridge with one hand, spraying bacta on one of his wounds. “I don’t know, Rey. I’m really not sure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there we are. If you spot any mistakes, be sure to let me know. Thanks to everyone who's left kudos so far, and especially those of you who have bookmarked this. It means everything to me. See you with the next chapter as soon as I can.
> 
> Also, feel free to join my discord for my fics and more: https://discord.gg/5B9Qryc

**Author's Note:**

> So there we are. Chapter 2 will be out in at most a week. Feel free to leave kudos or comment, but I'm happy if you only just read this. 
> 
> Also, feel free to join my discord! https://discord.gg/wBh42vA We just talk on here about writing, drawing, or just whatever.
> 
> Best wishes to everyone.


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